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I tend do things slightly backwards, which may explain why I read the Twilight saga AFTER I had watched Twilight. I thoroughly enjoyed the Twilight (and although had not read the books) thought that it captivated Edward's and Bella's love for one another beautifully.As I said this was before the books...

There are FOUR books in the Twilight Saga, them being ; Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. Twilight is the first in the Saga and is the first book that has captivated millions of us and turned us into, what we like to be called, TwiHards!

The books storyline is very basic, a boy meets girls kind of story, but is deeply emotional and has a few twists and turns along the way. It is based upon a teenage girl (17) called Bella Swan who has recently moved to a miserable town called Forks with her father (chief of town - Charlie Swan) and her mother and her new husband have decided to pursue his Baseball dream.Charlie and Bella have a typical teenage girl / Dad relationship, Charlie is a typical quiet character and at times doesn't always understand Bella and often finds it hard to make conversation.

However when Bella joins the local school it isn't quite has she had imagined when she first met / saw the 'Cullen' family. The Cullen family are introduced as mysterious people and who are adopted by the local doctor and are all utterly gorgeous in their own way. The way in which Stephenie manages to describe them is absolutely phenomenal and anyone who doubts her writing skills and calls her a 'lazy' writer really needs to read her books, as the way in which she can describe and capture that exact moment and break every second down into great detail is just mind boggling! Then enters 'Edward Cullen' who immediately grabs Bella's attention, however the way in which he reacts to her is somewhat disturbing for her. This is due to the fact that he is a vampire and he craves her thirst like no other, despite the fact that the Cullens call themselves 'vegetarians' in that they only drink animal blood. Edward can also hear everyones thoughts (as certain vampires have certain talents) bare from that of Bella's.

As the story continues Bella is able to tell that Edward is a vampire and confronts him about this, yet instead of in an ordinary story where she should
have gone running, this somehow makes it more intrigued. However as their romance blossoms it is not without its difficulties such as when the 'bad' vampires enter their world which leads to a lethal fight for Bella's blood, with James, Laurent and Victoria being the predictable villains in the story... (you'll have to read to find out what happened ;) - that's if you don't already know)

This is much more than just a vampire story in that it is in fact a love story, each of the books progress on a deep level on Bella's and Edward's relationship. Twilight as a book is a very rare phenomenon and is highly recommended by me, it is not the best book in the Saga and is my own eyes is the 'worst' and by worst I do not mean it is bad, but just my least favourite book.

Despite the book being an in captivating, romantic read, at some points I find it slightly lacking and some chapters seem slightly boring and pointless and the book may seem much better without them. Saying this, though it is a romantic book it is also very much packed with action and thrilling moments. Stephenies description of each character leaves a very unique character in your head and one that she has done well to describe so well. Some of the main characters being;

Bella:Bella is a typical teenage girl to some extent, however on so many other levels is so different, she isn't typical in that she hates shopping and instead of avoiding vampires and running a mile is somewhat intrigued by one which leads her into a deeply, unconditional romance.Her character is one that most girls can relate to and the imagery used to describe is fantastic, we can gather that she is a fairly humble girl, with your average high school friends, who feels she has met the love of her life, yet is somehow wrapped up into a whole other relationship.

Edward:Edward is a mysterious, distant character, who at times feels hard to relate to and the only wavelength he is on is Bella's which makes is seem like an even deeper relationship that pulls the two together and what makes them seem as if they are 'meant to be'.Edward is the typical teenage heart throb, yet can hear all the thoughts of other people, excepts for Bella's which is just another twist that has been added to the story. Edward manages to captivate his readers in not that of Stephanie's description, but that of the words he chooses and his manner, as for a teenage boy (of 100 and something) makes him all the more fancy able / lust able.

Alice Cullen:Alice Cullen is Edwards sister and is my favourite character in the book. She is a very eccentric character and one that has a bubbly nature, yet is so graceful is un belief, as if she floats around rather than walks.She is a witty character, who has some brilliant one liners, she does not contribute greatly to the novel, but is a character that makes the story what it is and would be seriously lacking without her in it.

Charlie Swan:Charlie is Bella's father and does not contribute dearly to the book, but is again another important character, to the story and to Bella's life.He sometimes finds it 'difficult' with Bella and does not always understand and meet Bella's need, her being his teenage daughter that he hasn't seen in years. He is a quiet and humble character, who is not one to hover, who is very much similar to his daughter in so many ways.

Jacob Black:Jacob Black is not a very important character in Twilight, however is a very much heavy part in the other stories. He grew with Bella when they were little and is typically a good guy. He is Bella's best friend, but his feelings for her go much deeper than this. He goes to a different High School to Bella and attend one in La Push.From the imagery used we get a unique character drawn in our head of one with golden brown skin tone and long, thick, dark hair and a tallish lad of only 16. We understand that is personality is typically a happy and warm one which makes him seem so attrative.

Rosalie Cullen:Rosalie is Edwards sister and does not hold a great input to the story, however the character that she with holds is very complex and she holds a great hatred towards Bella and the reason for this does get revealed throughout the stories.She is absoloutley beautiful and everything about the way she looks seems majestic and unreal (just one of the trades of being a vampire, eh?)

James:He is the typical, main villain in this story and is a 'bad' vampire in one that takes the life of humans to quench his own thirst for blood. However his biggest, most exciting game of all is Bella and he is victoriously known as being a tracker so he made his life to get Bella's blood at whatever cost it took.He does take on a main role in the story in what he has to offer, though does not contribute to it much either. He has that bad streak to him which makes him almost attractive in the way she has described him.

This story is definitely one to read and if you do not feel as captivated with it afterwards and feel that it does not quite feel up to his hype then I urge you to read New Moon as this is one of the benefits of reading the book.

The book itself is definitely worth a read and the description used is amazing and is definitely not one to pass by. It is not a typical girl meets boy story and the love described is so deep every girl will be longing after their own Edward (or maybe even their own Jacob - who becomes a key part of the story in New Moon). There is no doubt in Stephenie's ability to write such in-depth amazing stories and is sad that some names only become 'big' and 'well known' due to the fact that they have been made into films, when in fact 9/10 the books are 100X better and the writers often don't receive the credit the deserve (though I am sure Stephanie has been credited with a few pound here and there out of this).

The book in paper back costs £5.99 / £6.99, however at the moment in Sainsbury's their is an offer in which you can buy two books (Including the Twilight Saga books) for £7!The book itself comes in numerous covers, but the 'original' being a black cover with two very pale hands, holding a ruby red apple.

I cannot really place this story into one genre as it holds elements of many, however the more dominant one is a romance as the story is revolved around Bella's and Edward's love for one another.

Overall this is definitely worth a read and do not stop at just this one, the whole Saga completed is a much more worth the read.If you can ignore the slightly lacking bits to the story and try to concentrate on it as a whole, rather than individual paragraphs or chapters you'll find that it is a much more full filling read! It does sometimes leave the hype and pace behind and at times can feel slightly slower paced and not as exciting, however on the whole is a action packed (to some extent), dramatic, intriuging, emotional rollercoaster of a deeply romantic story! It is a fantastic book and not one to be missed!

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